BLOOD-SUCKING bats and exotic plants could come to the aid of stroke victims, cancer patients and people with diabetes.

Mother Nature’s medical breakthroughs are led by the claimed success of a drug made from vampire-bat saliva in a study revealed at the American Stroke Association’s international conference.

The test, on 38 patients, found that Desmoteplase, a clot-busting drug, can restore blood supply to the brain if given within nine hours of a stroke.

Meanwhile, artemisinin, an extract from wormwood used in Chinese medicine, has been combined with a Western drug, transferrin, to create a compound that kills leukaemia cells in the lab. The transferrin fools cancer cells into seeing the artemisinin as a harmless protein but, once it has been absorbed, the artemisinin kills the cells from the inside, the Washington University study says in Life Sciences.

Lastly, Ohio University scientists report how a traditional Indian medicinal plant, Salacia oblonga, appears to lower blood sugar and insulin in a similar way to prescription drugs. There’s only one problem, they report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association — it can give you terrible wind.

Choice boobs

FINDING perfect breasts is a problem — even for women who seek them through plastic surgery.

A survey by the American Society for Aesethetic Plastic Surgeons reveals that a third of 1,350 women who had breast implants were on their second operation because they did not like the shape of their first implants. Most of the dissatisfaction was caused by overambition; the women had opted for implants that turned out to be too large.

Chants for love

THE secret of a happy Valentine’s could lie in the lotus position. Researchers at North Carolina University report in the journal Behavior Therapy how teaching couples meditation techniques can cut interpersonal stress by an average of 50 per cent. The researchers are husband and wife, Dr James and Kimberly Carson. Altogether now: ahh.

Pupil power

RUSSIAN scientists claim they have discovered the quickest way to detect illness.

Researchers at the Russian Academy of Sciences have discovered that the eye is the first part of the body to show temperature rises in response to infection. They claim this happens before other clinical signs appear. Now they are working on a thermal-imaging system that could detect people in crowds who have a possible contagious infection, says the Russian science news agency, Informnauka.

Flies undone

MEN, huh? Brandeis University researchers claim that males’ lust for easy girls is deep in their genes. Their study of fruit flies in Current Biology shows that if a male is refused sex by a female, he then avoids all females who smell the same. It’s shallow. But it might work.

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